ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — It was a Maxwell Football Club award winner availability like no other Friday, the questions for walking, talking national news story Manti Te’o restricted to “the award.”

It didn’t work.

And someone should have told the media relations guy in charge of question-content that Te’o won two awards, not one. The Notre Dame product was voted the Maxwell Award as outstanding college player and the Chuck Bednarik Award as outstanding defensive player. It was the first time that’s been done in the 76-year history of the club.

Te’o is the only known MFC winner who reportedly helped fabricate a hoax involving an imaginary girlfriend supposedly hurt in a horrible car accident and then felled by leukemia. It’s been front page news since January.

Once considered a slam-dunk first-round draft pick, Te’o has since had every day of his life and every play of his college career scrutinized.

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All of that apparently took a toll on Te’o in the form of an embarrassingly slow 4.82 time in the 40-yard dash during the recent NFL scouting combine. Unless he gets dramatically faster he’s at risk not only of freefalling down draft boards but of not making it through the crosswalk when the ‘walk’ clock flashes into single digits.

“We’ll see what happens,” Te’o said. “I’m glad I’ll have another opportunity to run it. The 40 time, that’s something that I can get better at. The only way from here is up. I’m going to continue to train hard.”

If you don’t believe anything Te’o has said about the so-called girlfriend or his apology, believe this … he will run a faster 40 at his pro day later this month. Except for the offensive linemen football players should clock at least 4.81 with their eyes closed.

Te’o says he’s run 4.6’s in the 40. The way his stock is sinking running in the 4.5’s might be the only thing that gets him into the first round.

Te’o (6-0, 1-2) ran that 4.82 at 240 pounds. Last year middle linebacker Luke Kuechly (6-3) of Boston College clocked 4.58 at the combine at 242 pounds. Kuechly came off the board at the ninth overall pick.

The next 40-yard dash, Te’o vowed, would be different as he spent a ton of time doing damage control and can now zone in on his craft.

“It’s difficult to balance things and just stay focused on what you’ve got to do,” Te’o said. “For me, I’m glad the combine is done. Now I’m focused more on specific things like my 40. And I don’t have to worry about so much other things. Definitely it’s difficult. I’m not going to say it’s easy because it’s hard. But definitely it’s something that you can work through.”

By the way, Te’o doesn’t recall being asked by NFL teams at the combine if he liked girls, which reportedly was an issue with another player.

“No, I don’t think they asked that question,” Te’o said.

Ron Jaworski, president of the Maxwell Football Club, worked doubly hard deflecting criticism from Te’o.

Jaworski is adamant about game tape being the most important factor in proving a prospect can play. Like the game Te’o had, or didn’t have in the national championship loss to Alabama?

“He did struggle,” Jaworski said. “A lot of people struggle against Alabama. Some great football players. But we focus on one guy. Their defensive line didn’t do their job, as well. When you’re a linebacker you’ve got to be able to run and move. He wasn’t able to do that in that game because big bodies got on him. Alabama went to two tight ends and forced Notre Dame to play man-to-man up front. They were able to get bigger bodies on Manti in that game.

“Yeah, you look at one game. But if you look at the full body of work of Manti Te’o, the guy knows how to play football. I spoke to John Bunting, my former teammate with the Philadelphia Eagles. He worked with him down at IMG. He said ‘Jaws, this kid can flat-out play. I don’t care how fast he runs or what he does in the short shuttle, long shuttle or vertical. He can play football.’

“There’s no doubt about it. He’ll be a first-round pick.”

Te’o didn’t sound nearly as confident about the draft as Jaworski.

“To be honest with you I really don’t know,” Te’o said. “I hope I get drafted. I think that’s everybody’s hope at this point. You prepare, you work hard, you do your best and you hope for the best. I don’t know where specifically I’m going to go. I just hope one of those 32 places becomes my home.”